US Army Wants to Design Biodegradable Plant-Sprouting Bullets

The US army wants to create bullets that are environmentally friendly by designing biodegradable bullets and are looking to buy ones that are “loaded with specialized seeds to grow environmentally beneficial plants that eliminate ammunition debris and contaminants.” Design proposals are being accepted until February 8th.

Purpose

As bullet shells are harmful for the environment, the US army wants to design bullets that are biodegradable and sprout plants. At training facilities all over the world, bullets are used in order to train soldiers for combat. The bullet shells just remain on the ground. Officials are now asking for proposals to design biodegradable bullets that do not harm the environment.

They are aiming to buy bullets that contain seeds, specialized for each local environment in which the bullets are used, in order to “grow environmentally beneficial plants that eliminate ammunition debris and contaminants.” This means that not only will these bullet shells sprout plants from them, but also would clear up any dangerous contaminants surrounding the bullet.

According to the official request from the army, these types of biodegradable, plant-sprouting bullets have already been tested. The bullets are quite large, ranging from 40mm all the way up to 133mm.

Proposals

“The US Army Corps of Engineers’ Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has demonstrated bioengineered seeds that can be embedded into the biodegradable composites and that will not germinate until they have been in the ground for several months,” it states.

The only thing left is turning them into bullets that could actually be fired from real weaponry. The army will be considering proposals up till February 8th. The winner will be asked to produce their designed bullets for testing.

It has not been clear whether these bullets would be strictly for military use or for civilian use in the US.